Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. – Daniel 3:28

Today's Scripture Reading (August 23, 2023): Daniel 3

The first time I was ever placed in an entirely 3D environment was on a ride at Disneyland almost twenty years ago. I walked into the room with my family and sat beside someone genuinely afraid of heights. We sat in a gondola together that was destined to be raised a few feet off the ground, and then the lights went out, and the ride began. For me, the ride had a fantastic mix of several features. First, the special effects were superb. No matter where I looked, I saw what I would have seen if I really was flying high above the earth. But the second feature of the ride was that the gondola itself felt flimsy, and as a jet passed by barely overhead, the gondola shook with the turbulence created by the plane. You felt as if you really were a thousand feet above the earth's surface. And as the scenery twisted in a particular direction, the gondola tilted with the turn.

I mentioned that I was sitting beside a family member who was afraid of heights. For most of the ride, she simply closed her eyes. I don't really blame her. I have to admit that I kept on looking down at the ground, and I had to keep reminding myself that the earth wasn't hundreds of feet away at the base of the Grand Canyon or whatever scene it was that we were passing over, but barely six feet below where we were. If the gondola crashed, there might be some twisted ankles, but nothing that would put anyone in a hospital for an overnight stay.

As we got off the ride, the only word that seemed to fit was "Wow." Some wanted to go again, maybe to see if there was an edge where the fakeness becomes apparent. But we wanted to do too many other things, so that second ride never happened. That was probably for the best; sometimes, it is better to let the magic happen and not look too closely to try to find the man behind the curtain.

Have you had a genuine "Wow" moment? What caused you to go, "Wow?" I admit that I had to think to get to an actual wow moment in my life, and the Disneyland example, and a wonderful trip for my family, was one of the more printable ones.

This was Nebuchadnezzar's "Wow" moment. It was completely unexpected, and all the Babylonian King had to say was, "Wow." He had no idea how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had survived the furnace except to say that it was the direct result of their God. We need to note that it wasn't Nebuchadnezzar's god. And Nebuchadnezzar seems to want to honor the God of these three Jews. Nebuchadnezzar was amazed that when he had threatened their lives and his threat hadn't moved these Jewish men. But now he understood. His threats didn't match the saving power of the God of these Jews. And it might be at this time that Nebuchadnezzar began to do a little more research about this saving  God of the Jews.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 4